Posts

Foetus, “Red and Black and Gray and White”

Soak is the most recent Foetus album, from 2013. I sort of don’t believe it’s going to be the last Foetus album, but maybe I’m wrong. At any rate, it carries on in his late career form, a howling whirlwind of orchestration, noise, and barely constrained chaos. It’s like a big band possessed by a demon.

Shabazz Palaces, “When Cats Claw”

Shabazz Palaces went to record a few bonus tracks for their 2017 album Quazarz vs. the Jealous Machines, but the sessions ended up going so well that they turned it into an entire companion album, Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star. Given that both albums were recorded roughly at the same time, it’s hard to pick between them, so I’d recommend just listening to both.

Stevie Wonder, “Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)”

Music Of My Mind was the album where Stevie Wonder found another gear. He was a one-man band at this point, and he had really mastered writing a complete record. From here through Songs in the Key of Life, there was nobody better, and that five album stretch might be the best anybody has ever made.

Vampire Weekend, “A-Punk”

I’m not going to say anything revelatory about this song or album, so lemme just say that this song is such a goddamn blast in Rock Band, both on the drums and singing. Both at the same time is fuckin’ hard, though.

Tilt, “Annie Segall”

This is from the last Tilt album, in 1999, and I’ll be totally honest: I’m not entirely sure why I picked all of them up. It’s not bad, it’s just that it’s not really any different from the other three albums.

SWANS, “Amnesia”

What Is This? is a record of demos that Michael Gira assembled to test out songs prior to cleaning things up for a full release (what would become leaving meaning.). It’s an interesting record, but very much for completists only. Which is good, because it was released in a very limited edition as a crowdfunding project to raise money for the new record. I’m glad I have it, but that’s because I’m a huge SWANS fan.

400 Blows, “The Ugly Are So Beautiful”

There’s a ruthless, efficient logic at the heart of 400 Blows. The find their groove, riff, or idea and just hammer away at it. It’s not that they’re robotic or simplistic or anything, but they recognize that repetition has a power of its own, and are unafraid to make use of it. It’s the sort of music you can disassemble an engine to.

Funkadelic, “Into You”

The world is divided into two groups: those who think Mothership Connection is P-Funk’s finest moment, and those who think One Nation Under A Groove is. (I’m ignoring Maggot Brain perverts.) My opinion largely rests on whichever one I’ve listened to most recently.

No, but seriously, it’s Mothership Connection.

Front 242, “Television Station”

Official Version is the first good Front 242 album, the one where the menacing synths and icy vocals really came together. And I have to say, this stuff has largely aged better than a lot of their peers. There are elements of it that kind of presage the *wave bands of today.

Soccer Mommy, “yellow is the color of her eyes”

This seven-minute tune is the centerpiece of Soccer Mommy’s record from last year, Color Theory. This record showed up on a lot of year end lists, and while I think it’s good, I’m a little lyric blind at times, so I’m not sure it’s grabbed me quite the same way it did others. But take a listen, if you like this, you’ll like this album.

The Arsonists, “Underground Vandal”

The Arsonists’ debut album, released in 1999, was very much a throwback record. Not just in sound, but in the way it was created. By 1999, hip-hop had moved into an era of producers being stars separate from rappers. But the Arsonists did everything as a group, including the production, which was unusual for the time.

Times New Viking, “My Head”

There’s something so abrasive and unhinged about Times New Viking’s particular racket that listening to them really kind of scrambles your brains. Strip away the fuzz, the overdriven amps, the squalls and washes of feedback, and what you get is pretty simple pop songs at the center. Personally, I don’t find the artiface all that convincing, so this is the only album I ever picked up from them.

The Chemical Brothers, “Where Do I Begin”

We’ve talked before about how “Block Rockin’ Beats” was (deservedly) a galactic scale hit. I have to wonder how people who bought the record thought about the rest of the album, which is excellent, but which gleefully throws genre after genre into the blender and is pretty all over the map. I’d like to think that people put it on and thought “fuck yeah”.

De La Soul feat. Usher, “Greyhounds”

De La Soul launched a Kickstarter in 2015 to record their new album using a new method. Tired of chasing and clearing samples, they decided to bring musicians in to the studio to record them playing a bunch of different things, and then used those sessions as their library of music to sample and construct the tracks. The resulting album, …And The Anonymous Nobody, isn’t one of De La’s best albums, but how could it possibly be? It is very good, though, and clearly a different record from the ones that come before it. If you haven’t listened to anything from De La Soul from after the Prince Paul years, you should listen to…well, Stakes Is High. And then The Grind Date. And then probably this one!

Ghostface Killah, “Wildflower”

Ghostface’s first solo record, Ironman, is very good. A RZA produced record from 1996 couldn’t help but be good. But I think Ghostface’s unique personality hadn’t quite fully come through, and the production hadn’t quite yet differentiated totally from the Wu-Tang Clan. So it doesn’t reach the heights of many of Ghostface’s later records.

Algiers, “Blood”

The first Algiers record is a heady mix of gospel and murky post-punk, a combination that immediately stands out from basically anybody else out there. While there are moments when you can kind of see the seams, it’s a prety incredible record, especially for a debut.